Detector



April 9,f 1946.

A H. HARRIS, JR

DETECTOR I Filed Feb. 1,1943

Squaring und Square Rooi. Exracfon Singe U40 FIG. 1.

Summing Singe FIG. 3.

:fuso

INVENTOR HERBERT HARRIS,JR BY l ATroRNEY Y 2 f 2,397,961 and 25 such as pentodes` of the 6K7 type. As and a positive terminal connected to the anodes Y shown, the tubes comprise anodes 26 'and 21, 26 and 21. For combining the outputs of the cathodes 28 and 29 and a plurality of control tubes 24 and 25 at the terminal 2I a common electrodes. Thus tube 24 includes a first control anode resistorA 541s connected between the DOS- electrode or grid 30, a second electrode or screen 5 tive terminal of the B battery 53 and the inter- 33, 34 and 35.

grid 3| and a third e1ectrode or grid 32, the lost mediate terminal 2l, to whiehthe anodes 26 and of which may take the form of a suppressor grid 21 are connected. Y

connected to the-cathode 28.-; Y-Tnetube `2 5 in. Infine erransemenushown :bywey 0f illustrecludes corresponding respectivecontrolelectrodes tiOrf thefsreenglids '3l d'fo' .thevllbes 24 In order that the tubes 24 and 25 mayk funci-p 10i the voltage supply 53 through dropping resistion as squaring devices for negative as well as Ytors 49.

positive voltages applied between the pairsV olf-'r'v The square root extracting device 23 may e150 A terminals II and I2 and IIand I8, I mayinterpose rectiers 36`and 31. The-rectifier 36 .com prises a pair of rectifier elements 38 andr39 'conef Y nected to form a full wave rectier. For example, .A 0I grid .51 and Vacathode 58 as well as additional a biphase connection may be employedby uti-` fgrds; The Sme'eriergizng Source 53 may be uti lizing a transformer 4l having primary winding lziedend'a leadleSiStOl 59 may be @Onneeted be- A42 connected to the input terminals II and I2, 20 tween the positive terminal of the source 53 and l having aseondary winding 43,' the ends of which the IOde 5,5

are connected to the negative terminals of the The'controlelectr'de 51 iscoupledto theinterrectifier elements r3.8 and 39 with an interme; i" mediate terminal2I-throu'gh a grid resistor 62.

mediate terminal 44z serving as a nega-tive rec- AS ShOWIl, e Xed'beSSwrCe Suh as e C battery and 25 Aare connected to the positive terminalL tfer Outputterminal. Thej other rectiiier out- 25 63 is'interposedin'series with? the grid lea-d re put terminal is4 the junction V45 of the positive terminals of the rectifier elements 38 and 39. YA trode 5-'I.'- The voltage of the C` battery 63 is so loodv resistor 46 indy be connected betweenrthe choseuas tefgive the anode volteseerid voltage terniiria1s44 and 45mm the load resistor es may curve of the tube 55 the desired square-root charl 'beconne'cted in theinput circuit of the tube 2 4. 30 Dacteristic withinthelrarlge 'in JuhCh/ili iS Opera-Y The recter 31; which is generally similar to Ve- 7 4 rectier Y3Ii,includes a pairof rectier elements Asl-shown Vin the" drawing, vfor convenience in 88 and 89 having negative terminals connected eSSeIribly, vthe connections to ythe negative terto the'ends of center-tapped secondary 'winding Y minel 0f the SYOllIC'e 53 maybe madeby grOlIIldins 83 of transformer 12 havinga primary wind- '35 fthis terminalandgroundingthe points intended ingp'j'a connected tojinput terminals |1 and is. tobeeouueute'ihereta Howevenmy invention The ,center tap 84 of the transformer Secondary is not'limitedto the use of a grounded circuit. winding 831s connected to one end of a load re- The-effector*introducing the phase las and s istor 41, the other end'of whicnis connected COIiVeItr/lg the voltages'into squaredrvalues Vis sistor 62"for'ne`gative1y' biasing the control elecf at tenninoi'este' the positive terminals of the 4o represented graphically in- Fiss. 2 ands. Thus in rectier elements 88 and 89.A The load resistor vFgl 2Ithe'input Wave ASIi 21rf 1S represented by el is'eonnected in the inputv circuit ofthe tube 25. a -1Siiius0ida1f-e`urveConsisting of a positive loop VSome 'attenua-tion of the input Voltage neces- 64 shown by ai 'solid line', a negative loop 65 shown y sarily'oc'cursin the phase lagging circuit" conby' ddtted'lneenetherDOSitiVe'100D GfshOWrl Vssting ofthe units I5 and! 6. This attenuation 45 JOYY aslid'lneagan. and l`Sebri- The rectier is preferably compensated by utilizing tubesfze 36 hweverconverts 'thenegative loop so as to Yand-25 with different ampliiicationI-constants or OI'I alBOSi'Ve 100D 611111 'its'plaeafV The Output e load'resisto 46 of the rectifier 36 may be' tapped 50 -53 an'd "SO 6111"- ThiS fWVe, Whei'lllliedv tothe oi to servons theA vinput to the tube` 24,-' As mus'- controlelect'rde' k3l) of the tube 24 results in a traitedjthis isnccomplishedby providing an inldischargel current inthe' tube 24 proper-tional to term'diate terminal 481m the resistor 46.` the square of the wave. This is represented by V"'Ifli'e input circuit of each ofthe tubeszri and a double frequency sine .wave 68. vSince this cur- 25 may comprise connections'between-the cath- V55 -rentisidrawthroughl'thefload resistor 54 the 1 o'df bf the tube and (me:I of 'thaV control e1ec2 .component of the voltage drop'therein`-due tothe ltrodes, ordinarily the nrst orlsecondcontroi elecuctuatine anode current 0f the' tube `i24 is. also 3 trede of the tune.v 'In the arrangement shown, of the form represented by the double frequency i the first cntrolielectrodes or'gridsjSI)V and 33`are Sinewave 68.

employed for the-input circuitsb The 'inputs-cir; 69 The-'input wave'tofthegcontroll'electrode"33 of 1 vc"uitsli1`1clude a connection" 49 from the-'cathodes the tube 25 is s imlart'o-that applied tothe tube 28and 29`to'th'e 'rectifier terminals V45 fand'85. 24 but: is displaced 190" inA time'phas'e'. Conse- A portion of th' resistor 46 between the termi' quently, the resultant. double 'frequency squared Vnais a'nd 48,'rand`a connection 5 0 tothe grid waveis alsodisplaced 90 internfs ofthe funda- 39`co`mplete the input'circuit of the-tube'24, while 65 mental frequency). i The`squared wave' propor-V th' resistor' 41v and 'a connection 99 to thegrid tional to then discharge current ofthe tube25 may 33 complete the input Vcircuit of *the tube 25. therefore "be represented as! shown in Fig. vr3 by a Preferablya bias voltage source such as aV C "doublefrequency-sinewave- 69whichis 90 out battery 5I is also included in the input circuits, yof-phase with respect to th'ewave.68?(in1terms of g., between the cathodes 28Y and 29'andV the im the` fundamental frequency) or'180=`out ofphase connection 49.'V j e Y interrns'of th'double freq'u'enc'y'. 'Thusthe sum For energizing the tubes 24 and 25 a source of o'fthe'twowavesY 68 and 69 isa Vconst'ant'nonvoltage such as aB battery' 53 is'provided, havfluctuating'oruniformvltageV represented bythe ing a negative'terminal'22 connected'through-a 'horizonta1"line.19.`'Slncefthe anode' currents of ground Vconnection 'to the Acatlio'des 28`andl. 29' `7'5j^both"tubs: 241 an'dj 2 5areid1fawn through 'the same anode. resistory 54, the; voltage drop therein? result'- ing fromk the application. of. a sinewave-,A sin 2'1rft, to terminals II and; 25, is a constant: voltage drop lrepresented. by the constant: value 1.8; so. long: as

the envelope A of thelwave is constant.y

Fluctuations in the envelope of the. wavey result in uctuating voltage atv the intermediate terminal 2| representing, A2, the square of the modulation or envelope of the input wave A sin 2'1rft.

Since as stated, the vacuum tube stage 23 is arranged to have a characteristic curve in accordance with the square root or one-half power law, the output voltage between the terminals I3 and I4 iluctuates in accordance with the square root of the voltage A2 at `the intermediate terminal 2|. Thus, the voltage at th'e output terminals I3, I4 is a voltage proportional to the modulation A.

Although I have shown a specific arrangement in Fig. 1 for producing phase quadrature between the alternating current voltages applied to the rectiers 36 and 31, it will be understood that my invention is not limited to the specic arrangement illustrated and described. For substantially equalizing the voltages applied in the two rectier circuits and improving the degree of phase quadrature relationship obtained between the two voltages, I may utilize a phase-splitting arrangement, such as illustrated in Fig. 4.

Two output voltages are produced in response to the input signal between the terminals II and I2, one output voltage being advanced and the other retarded, so as to produce phase quadrature.

As shown in Fig. 4, an adjustable resistor 1| is connected in series with the phase lagging condenser I6 across the input terminals II and I2. The transformer 4| has its primary winding 42 connected across the adjustable resistor and the second transformer 'I2 has its primary winding 'I3 connected to the terminals and I8 across the condenser I6. The secondary windings 43 and 83 of the transformers 4| and 12, respectively, are connected to elements 38, 39 and to elements 88, 89 in the same manner as illustrated in Fig. 1. Load resistor 46 is connected between terminals 44 and 45, and load resistor 41 is con.. nected between terminals 84 and 85, as in Fig. 1. However, in this case the connection 58 to th'e control electrode 30 may be connected directly to the end of resistor 46 connected to midterminal 44 of the transformer secondary winding 43. For equalizing the amplitudes or peak values of the output voltages across the load resistors 46 and 41, the adjustable resistor 'II is varied in resistance to make the amplitudes of the alternating current voltages equal between the terminals I I and I1 and between the terminals I'I and I8.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely differ-,

ent embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. A modulation detector comprising a pair of input terminals to which a modulated oscillatory wave may be applied, a phase lagging circuit connected to said terminals, a first rectifier coupled to said input terminals, a second rectifier.

coupled to said phase lagging circuit, a, square law vacuum tube amplifier having input connections coupled to said first rectier, a second square lawramplifier havingl input connections coupled. to saidsecond rectier, .ai common output circuit forl said, amplifiers for. summing. the outputs thereof,l andi a vacuum` tube.r amplifier. having aA square root` lawf withinput'connections coupled to the output circuit ofi said, mst-mentioned: pair oi vacuum tubeamplifiers. Y

2. A modulation detectorA comprising a pair of input terminals to which a variable voltage may be applied varying in accordance with a modulated oscillatory quantity, an electric discharge device operating in a portion of its characteristic curve which follows a substantially square law, a rectifier interposed between said input terminals and said electric discharge device, a second electric discharge device having similar characteristics to the rst, a second rectifier, and a phase lagging circuit, said phase lagging circuit and said second rectifier being interposed between the input terminals and the second electric discharge device, said electric discharge devices having a common output connection for producing an output voltage proportional to the sum of the squares of the input voltages.

3. Apparatus as in claim 2 with attenuation interposed between the first rectifier and the rst discharge device for compensating unavoidable attenuation of the phase lagging circuit.

4. A modulation detector comprising a pair of input terminals to which a variable voltage may be applied varying in accordance with the modulated oscillatory quantity, a phase-splitting circuit connected to said input terminals and having two pairs of output terminals for producing two voltages in phase quadrature with each other, an electric discharge device operating in a portion of its characteristic curve which follows a substantially square law, a rectifier interposed between the rst pair of said phase-splitter output terminals and said electric discharge device, a second electric discharge device having similar characteristics to the first, and a second rectifier interposed between the second of said pairs of phase-splitter output terminals and the second electric discharge device, said 'electric discharge devices having aJ common output connection for producing an output voltage proportional to the sum of the squares of the input voltages.

5. A modulation detector for a modulated oscillatory quantity comprising a pair of input terminals to which a modulated oscillatory wave may be applied, means coupled to said terminals for producing two versions of said wave substantially in phase quadrature with each other, and a squaring circuit responsive to said two wave versions for producing an output voltage varying as the sum of the squares of said two versions.

6. A modulation detector comprising a pair of input terminals to which a modulated oscillatory wave may be applied, means coupled to said terminals for producing two versions of said wave separated in phase by a predetermined phase angle, means responsive to a lirst one of said versions for producing a first signal component varying as the square of the instantaneous value thereof, means responsive to the second one of said versions for producing a second signal component varying as the square of the instantaneous value thereof, and means for combining said rst and second components to produce an output signal varying as the square of the modulation of said oscillatory wave.

7. A modulation detector comprising a pair of input terminals to which a modulated oscillatory wave may be applied, means coupled to said terminals for producing .tw pl'ia's*separatedI versions iofrsaidl wave, means ,responsive toa rst` one of said versionsLfor: producing-l atrst signal component varyingSasftl'xe`- squareV ofthe instan'- taneous xvalue thereof, 'nensf responsive' to 5 the second' o n'eof said versions fon producing asecz-v ondV signal component :varying asthe .square of theinstantaneous value thereof,` means for.com 

